The Light and the Darkness
by lilyayne01
Summary: Set during season 2. Trying to stay canon to the story for the most part. Definitely Olicity. Felicity goes undercover against Oliver's better judgement to catch a man attacking women at Verdant.
1. Chapter 1

"No. Absolutely not." Oliver spit the words out with a vehemence that surprised her. He then turned his back to them, moving toward the table that held his arrows and various equipment as if his word was the final answer.

Felicity saw red. Ever since the Clock King she had been feeling a little better about her place on the team, but Oliver delivering orders to her like she was to obey rubbed her the wrong way. He wouldn't do that to Diggle and especially not to Sara.

"Excuse me? You do realize you're not my boss down here right?" she asked, gesturing around the foundry with a sweep of her hands.

"Felicity…" Even the way he said her name had a tone of exasperation to it, as if he didn't understand why she was just following orders.

"No. I am a member of this team too. You wouldn't give orders to the others and just expect them to blindly obey." Deep down she knew she wasn't being fair. The others were much more capable physically than she was. But she liked to think that what she lacked in brawn she made up for in brains.

"Blindly obey? Is that what I'm asking you to do?" Oliver shook his head at her, his expression one of mixed incredulity and anger. "I obey you blindly all the time Felicity." He held up a hand to silence her when her mouth opened to interrupt him, "You tell me where to go, when to show up, how many bad guys there are, everything. And I follow your directions blindly. I trust that you know what you're doing. So, no, I don't think it's too much to ask for you to trust that I know what I'm doing now, when I say no."

"Oliver," she said his name quietly, trying a different tact, "I do trust you. I know you aren't saying no because you don't trust me. But I think you're trying to protect me and you can't always do that. We all take chances by being part of this team. And for me, that means occasionally going outside of this basement."

He didn't argue, but he still didn't look too happy.

"We could wait for Sara to get back from her trip with her family. But this guy has already attacked 3 girls in your club in the last 4 nights. At this rate, 4 more girls are going to get hurt before she gets back."

"We could call her back early." Oliver reasoned and she knew he didn't really mean it. Sara was on a long overdue trip with her family, a chance to bond and heal. Short of hell opening on earth, none of them would interrupt that.

"We don't need to do that. We've tried for four night now to catch him using surveillance and we haven't been able to. It's time to up our game. I fit the profile of the girls he's after. My plan will work." She stared up at him, willing him to see the truth, to trust that she was up for this.

He stared over her head, his gaze landing on Diggle. He hadn't said a work through the whole exchange, just watching quietly, his face unreadable. Oliver felt the tension in his body. He didn't like this at all. Felicity wanted to use herself as bait to catch a man who had been somehow drugging women at his club and then assaulting them. The cops had no leads. They had no leads. They had watched every minute of the surveillance tapes. They had watched the women and their drinks and had never once seen anyone tamper with them. Yet each time, the women on the tapes grew more and more tipsy as the night wore on until a man would appear and lead them out of the club. He seemed to know where the cameras were, always wearing a hat and keeping his head turned away. They hadn't even gotten a glimpse of his face. His clothing was always nondescript. The girls always ended up in ICU, severely beaten and with no memory of what had happened to them. And now, Felicity wanted to set herself up as nice shiny prize for the madman. He scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to think of a way to discourage her.

"What about you? You okay with using her as bait?" he asked Diggle.

"She's right Oliver. We have to stop this guy. And with you, me and Roy watching her, she should be safe." Diggle replied.

"I don't want to say this Oliver, but what about Thea?" His gaze dropped to hers immediately. "She's at the club every night. What if he decides he's tired of blondes and goes after a brunette? I'm not trying to play the sympathy card here, but each of those girls is someone's sister Oliver. We need to stop this."

"Fine," he almost growled the word as he spun away from her, heading for the salmon ladder, feeling the need to work off some excess energy, "But we do this my way."

He could see Felicity and Diggle talking quietly at her computers. He knew they were probably going over her strategy for tonight. The thought sent another surge of anger through him and he used it to push himself up another rung on the salmon ladder, the metallic bang of the pipe loud in the quiet basement. He knew Felicity thought he didn't want her to do this because he didn't value her the same way he did the other team members. It was true that Dig and Sara and even Roy could take care of themselves physically better than she could. But that wasn't it. He cared about her, more than he let himself admit. She was everything good and light and perfect. She was able to make him laugh and smile. A real smile. Not the fake ones he gave so many people.

Things were so complicated. He swung up another rung on the ladder. He was involved with Sara. He loved her, but deep down, he knew he wasn't in love with her. He suspected Sara wasn't in love with him either. They were together because it was easy, familiar. They had similar histories. He also knew that in the end, they were bad for each other. They were too similar. They were both to fractured to help each other heal. He thought back to the time he told Felicity that because of the life he led, he thought it was easier not to be with someone he could really care about. He still believed that, but it didn't make it any easier to see her everyday. Too be so close to her and yet not be with her.

The bang of the bar as he went up again echoed through the basement. He saw Felicity look up and a slight smile curved her mouth before she went back to her conversation with Dig. If things were different, if he were different…He couldn't waste time playing the what if game. He knew it had hurt her when he had gotten together with Sara. He knew she probably remembered his earlier words after Russia. But she didn't realize that how he felt for Sara was not the type of caring he had been talking about. He remembered how he had felt when Felicity had met Barry Allen and he went up again on the ladder, this bang louder than the rest. Both Dig and Felicity looked over at him this time. He dropped to the ground, wiping the sweat from his face.

He had to keep her safe. It may be the only thing he would ever do right in his life, but he would protect her, no matter what.


	2. Chapter 2

"I still don't like this." Oliver said into his activated comm. as he walked around his club, eyeing every man he saw. He would have much rather been dressed as the Arrow, with bow in hand. But it made more sense for him to be down here in the club since he was the owner. Plus he was closer to Felicity this way.

"Roger that." Came Dig's voice through the link in his ear, "Roy, you got eyes on her?"

"Yeah, she's still at the bar. A couple of guys have come up to her already; one even gave her a rose. What a chump." Roy's voice held a note of contempt for the flower-yielding guy. "I mean, who brings flowers to a bar?"

"Focus Roy." Oliver instructed him. "Keep eyes on her at all times."

Oliver made another loop around the club, watching Felicity through the crowd. He knew Roy was making rounds too. Digg was in the foundry, watching her on the monitors, as well as keeping an eye on her drinks.

He heard her laughing and his gaze swept over to her once again. She was laughing in response to something the man standing beside her had said. She didn't have a comm. on her and he didn't like it. He wanted to be in verbal communication with her, not just visual.

She threw her head back and laughed again, holding the rose up to smell it. So this was the chump with the rose? He supposed some women would consider him handsome, but Felicity could do so much better. Especially dressed as she was tonight. She had dressed for the part. Her sleeveless blue dress was tighter than she usually wore, shorter too. He noticed she had kept tugging at the hem, as if she could magically make it longer. Her hair was a tangle of golden curls down her back, it reminded him of the first time he had seen her dressed up when they went after the Dodger. He had been struck by her when he had seen her standing at the top of the steps that night, so pretty she had taken his breath away for a moment.

"Anything yet Dig?" he asked, just wanting this night to be over. He felt like he was wound as tight as he could go, partially from the stress of wanting to keep her safe and partly from the sight of the man's hand caressing her back. This assignment really didn't call for her letting herself be pawed at.

"Nothing yet. She's left her drink setting a lot, has turned away from it and everything. No one has touched it or even come near it."

He heard the frustration in Dig's voice. If this didn't happen tonight, she would want to keep trying. He didn't think his nerves could take another night of this. This must be how she felt as she waited in the foundry while they went out. He decided to make another lap around the club.

"I'm gonna make a lap. Roy, watch her." He waited until he had confirmation from him before he moved away.

Felicity tugged at the hem of her skirt again, really wishing she had opted for something just a bit longer. She had been so nervous when she had first gotten her that she had babbled almost incoherently to the first two guys that had approached her. She really hoped that neither one of them had been the attacker, because if they were, she had definitely blown it. She had had one glass of wine to calm her nerves a little, and then had switched to club soda and lime. She had left her drink sitting on the bar while she used the rest room and had kept turning away from it while surveying the club. She didn't like the idea of being drugged, but she knew Digg was watching her drink on the monitors. If they saw it being tampered with, they would step in and stop her from drinking it. But they would at least catch the guy who did it.

She saw Oliver out of the corner of her eye and couldn't help biting her lip. She knew he wasn't happy about her part in this, but when she had come down the steps to the foundry this evening in her dress, he had looked decidedly even more unhappy, the muscle in his cheek clenching. She knew he missed Sara and probably she wished she was the one being bait.

_At least Sara would have probably attracted the guy by now_, Felicity thought, unable to hide the trace of bitterness from her own thoughts. She really liked Sara. But she couldn't help but feel a little inferior to the girl.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a voice close to her ear.

"A rose for such a pretty girl." She looked up into the smiling face of an unknown man. She took the rose he offered her and took a deep breath of it, as one is supposed to do when a handsome man gives you a flower. "I'm Sam."

"Felicity." She answered back, smiling up at him.

She spent the next fifteen minutes talking with Sam. He seemed so nice and it was great to have a man show interest in her for a change. He genuinely seemed to listen and she was so proud of herself, she had only babbled once. It was too bad she would have to get him to leave soon. He hadn't made one mover toward her drink. She couldn't look like she was taken, or the man they were after might not approach her.

Sam made a joke and she found herself laughing, even though logically she knew it wasn't that funny. She turned her head to search the crowd for Oliver and all the people in the club seemed to blur together. She swayed on her feet and her hand shot out to the bar to steady herself. Sam grasped her elbow, pulling her into his body.

"You don't look so good." He told her. She looked up at him, but she didn't see the worry she expected to see in his eyes. His expression had turned from warm and friendly to ice cold. She tried to pull away from him, but her movements were sluggish. She couldn't seem to get her feet to move the way she wanted to and she stumbled again. He took advantage of that, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulled her tight against his side, almost lifting her from the ground. "Lets get you outside. You just need some fresh air."

She looked wildly around the room again for Oliver or Roy, but the room spun precariously and she had to shut her eyes to stop the spinning. She was aware that he was moving her through the crowd toward the alley door, but she was helpless to stop it.


	3. Chapter 3

Oliver had made his lap around the club, having been held up by people who recognized him and wanted him to stop and chat. He was making his way back toward the bar when Digg's voice yelled through his comm.

"Felicity is in trouble!"

"How?" He barked the word into his comm. as he started rushing toward the bar. "Roy, where are you?"

Digg's voice came through the comm. again. "She was fine, talking to some guy at the bar. Then she started to stumble and he seemed like he was helping her at first. But she tried to pull away from him and almost fell again, and now he has his arm around her and is practically caring her away from the bar. Hurry Oliver."

Oliver starting running, yelling for Roy again.

"I'm here. I got held up by a fight at the entrance. I'm heading her way now." Roy's voice was breathless as if he was running too.

"Did you see anyone tamper with her drink?" He asked Diggle.

"No one touched it. I was watching the whole time. He's heading toward the back alley door with her. I'm coming up."

Oliver couldn't understand how someone had drugged her without touching her drink, unless….

"The rose! Whatever the drug is, its inhaled Diggle! Roy grab the rose on the way past the bar so we can analyze it." Oliver commanded. He was glad Digg was coming up to join them, but he hated the fact that he now had no eyes on Felicity.

He burst through the alley door, taking a minute for his eyes to adjust to the dim light. Off to his right, he saw them. She was trying to struggle, but her movements were slow and uncoordinated. The man drew back and before Oliver could reach them, he backhanded her. Felicity fell back against the brick wall, her head connecting with a dull thud before she crumbled to the ground.

Oliver was on the man before he could even turn around. With a roar, he drove him to the ground, pounding the man with his fists. He let all the rage he felt loose on the man. He didn't stop until Roy grabbed him from behind, pulling him off the unconscious man. Oliver struggled against Roy's hold and even with his Mirakuru infused strength he had trouble holding him back.

"Oliver! Felicity needs you." Digg's voice finally broke through the rage and he looked over to see Digg cradling Felicity in his arms. The fight drained out of him and Roy let go, but he could tell the boy was ready to grab him again if need be. His caution wasn't needed though. All of Oliver's attention was now focused on Felicity. He knelt beside them, his hand reaching out to cup her cheek.

"She'll be fine Oliver. She has a good bump to the back of her head and she'll need to sleep off whatever drug he gave her, but she'll be fine." Digg reassured him.

Oliver nodded, but couldn't say anything; he didn't trust his own voice not to shake. He could hear the sirens coming and was vaguely aware of Roy talking quietly on a cell phone. He must have called 911. For once, he wouldn't have to leave before the police got there, as he wasn't dressed as the Arrow. It was fortunate, because he wouldn't have left Felicity's side right now for anyone or anything. He stared at her closed eyes, willing her to open them. This was why he was opposed to her out in the field. If she got hurt, if she was in danger, he lost all focus. He felt like he was being ripped open and it was worse than anything he had endured during his five years on the island.

He carried her down the steps to the foundry. He had her tight against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. Every time she exhaled, her breath drifted across the exposed skin on his neck. He never thought his own skin would feel so tight. Diggle went ahead of him, gathering blankets and pillows and spreading them out on the sofa. Oliver laid her down as gently as he could, arranging her head on the pillows and covering her with the blanket Diggle provided. She seemed comfortable. Her breathing was deep and even.

"Diggle you may as well go home and get some sleep. I'll stay with her." He told the other man. Diggle looked like he wanted to argue, but something in Oliver's expression seemed to change his mind. He simply clapped Oliver on the shoulder and took his leave; after exacting the promise that Oliver would call the minute she woke up.

Oliver pulled a chair up next to the sofa and slumped down into it, blowing out a deep breath. The police had arrested the guy. No charges would be filed against Oliver as he had been protecting Felicity. Quentin Lance had been there and had argued against not taking her to the hospital. Oliver had been inclined to agree with him, but Dig and Roy had argued Felicity's feelings on being part of the team and that included no hospitals. When she woke up, she would have to go give her statement to the police. The rose had been turned over to the SCPD to be analyzed. He knew Felicity would have rather done it herself, but she was in no shape to handle that right now.

He looked down at her sleeping form again. She looked so peaceful. Her eyes closed, black lashed resting against pale cheeks. Pink lips parted slightly. Her blond hair spread out around her head like a halo. He couldn't help the slight grin that turned up the sides of his mouth at that thought. She was good and trust worthy and loyal and everything good, but she was far from an angel. He'd never met an angel who could hack computers like her.

He had realized tonight when he was rushing through Verdant, scared that he wouldn't make it in time, that she would vanish with that man and he would never see her again. He couldn't do this anymore. He couldn't pretend that he only cared about her as a friend. He couldn't continue with Sara as if that was what he really wanted. If he had lost Felicity tonight, she never would have known how he felt. He never would have had the chance to know how she felt about him. He had his suspicions, but he wanted to hear the words. She was the light to his darkness. But he was done hiding in the dark. When she woke, they were going to have a long heart to heart.


	4. Chapter 4

The vibration from his cell phone woke him from his nap. The first thing he did was look to Felicity, who he found was still sleeping. He hadn't meant to drift off. He had been sitting there for two hours waiting for her to wake. For the hundredth time he wondered if they should have taken her to the hospital despite her previous wishes. She had done what she thought was necessary the time he had been injected with the fast acting coagulant and had convinced Digg to enlist Barry Allen to save him. Maybe he should have fought harder to take her to the hospital... His phone vibrated again, breaking him away from his thoughts. He dug his phone out his pocket and glanced at the display before answering.

"Roy."

"So I stopped by the police station to see if they had any new information. Actually it was kinda nice to stop here on my own for a change, rather than being brought in," Oliver cringed at the reminder that the kid was little better than a small time hood and he was going with his sister, "But anyway, they wouldn't tell me anything. But Lance was there and he pulled me aside. The rose was laced with an inhalable drug similar to Rophonyl. They've arrested the guy and searched his apartment. They found a bunch more roses and the drug, along with pictures of the women he assaulted. The guy confessed to everything."

Roy took a breath before continuing and Oliver felt relief that the guy was in custody and this whole nightmare was over. He couldn't help feeling gratitude to the kid for pulling him off the guy. He had no doubt he would have killed him. If Roy hadn't stopped him, he probably would have spent the night in jail, rather than here watching over Felicity.

"Apparently this guy goes to a club, finds a girl he likes and gives her a rose like he's on some messed up version of the Bachelor." Roy paused for a second, before continuing in a deeper, and what he assumed a more macho voice, "Not that I watch the Bachelor or anything. I mean, Thea made me watch it once or twice. I don't see the point in it..."

"I get it. You don't watch the Bachelor." Oliver cut him off, putting him out of his misery. He couldn't help the slight grin that graced his lips. His sister had Roy wrapped around her little finger.

"How's Felicity?" Oliver could hear the genuine concern in Roy's voice.

"She's still out. But she doesn't seem to be in any pain or anything."

"Do you wanna a break? I can come sit with her for a while." Roy offered.

"No. I'm good." There was no way he was leaving her side. He wanted to be the first one she saw when she woke up.

"Ok. Let me know when she wakes up."

"Sure. And Roy, " Oliver paused before continuing. He needed to say this. "Thanks for everything you did tonight."

"Yeah. She's part of the team." Oliver grinned at his answer. She was part of the team, probably the best one of them .

He hit the button to disconnect the call and sat forward in his chair, resting his forearms on his knees. He wished she would wake up. He wanted to hear her ramble on about random things. He wanted to see the blush staining her cheeks when she said something with an innuendo that she didn't fully grasp until it was out of her mouth. In five more days Sara would be back from her trip and they were goingto have to have along talk too. Although, truth be told, he wasn't dreading it. He was pretty sure Sara was going to voice the same feelings he had. It was comfortable and familiar for them to be together. There was love there between them, but it wasn't the kind of love that kept couples together. They were more of friends with benefits than anything else. He hoped he could make Felicity understand. He knew he had hurt her. He was a selfish bastard sometimes. He had been lonely, wanting something he told himself he couldn't have. So he went after something he could have, even if it wasn't what he really wanted. He hadn't just hurt Felicity either. He had hurt Laurel.

Laurel. She was another story. Her picture had gotten him through 5 years of hell on the island. Felicity was a little in awe of Laurel, that much was obvious. He knew that both she and Digg felt that everything for him came second to Laurel, and for a while it had. Then he had finally come to the realization that he was more in love with the idea of Laurel, than with Laurel herself. He had been holding on to the idea of love that he had had as a young man. He had never had the chance to play things out with Laurel, so in his head he had put her up on a pedestal, had put their love up on a pedestal. Looking back, he knew it hadn't been perfect. If it had been, he never would have hooked up with her sister.

He focused on Felicity's sleeping face again. She knew him. She knew about the darkness inside him, even though he hadn't shared all his stories from the island. She knew that he had killed. She had been the one to convince him to try another way, yet she hadn't turned away from him for all that he had already done. In fact, she still saw him as a hero. He was surprised by how badly he wanted to live up to that. Not to be just a hero, but to be her hero. He smoothed a stray curl back from her face. He had so much he needed to say to her.

"Come on Felicity. Wake up. Please." He whispered to her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you all for the feedback. I do intend to finish this story. I'm thinking that there will only be one more chapter, maybe two tops. Oh, how I wish this were the direction the show was taking right now. Thanks for reading. **

The first thing Felicity became aware of was the pounding headache.

_It felt like groups of tiny oomp loompas were doing an Irish jig behind her closed eyes. Not that oompa loompas did Irish jigs. What kind of dances did they do? Stupid Willy Wonka. _ She thought to herself, her headache scrunch her eyes shut tighter, _Ugh, now my own babbling thoughts are making my headache worse. _

She tried to think, but her mind felt like it was in a fog. She briefly wondered if she was hung over, but she didn't usually drink that much. Her eyes fluttered open just enough to let some light in, and she closed them immediately. Light was not her friend right now.

_What is wrong with me?_ She was having trouble following a single train of thought. She thought back to the last clear memory she had…Oliver. She had seen him looking at her through the crowd at Verdant.

_Why was I at the club?_ She didn't hang out up there. She stayed in the basement. She wasn't a club kind of girl. The pressure in her head made it almost impossible to think, but she tried anyway.

_Ok, Oliver at the club…watching me…because…_she knew there was more to this story. She thought it through again.

_I was at Verdant. Oliver was there. We were there because…_she strained to remember, _because…we were trying to trap the man attacking women at the club!_

Her eyes shot open and she grimaced against the glare of the overhead lights. She was in the foundry. It bothered her greatly that she couldn't remember how she had ended up here. The last thing she remembered clearly was seeing Oliver across the club. She had been talking to the man who had given her a rose. She had vague, confusing memories of being off balance, being almost carried outside, pain across her cheek. She raised a hand to her cheek and flinched as she touched it. She had definitely been hit. Her arm dropped back to the sofa; she lacked the strength to hold it up.

The next thing Felicity could remember seemed more like a dream than an actual memory. She had a cloudy recollection of being carried down the steps and laid on the sofa. She could remember hearing Oliver and Digg's voices, but the words were muffled as if they had been speaking from far away. In her dream-like memory, Oliver's voice had whispered something to her, but the words escaped her. Now matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall them. She couldn't even be sure if any of these memories were real.

She realized that somehow the attacker had managed to drug her. It was the only thing that made sense. Felicity hated this. To not be able to separate memories from dreams, to have a big gap in her memory, to have no idea what had happened to her, she felt the tears welling up in her eyes and she fought to keep them at bay. She took a few deep, calming breaths. Panicking was not going to help the situation and it definitely wasn't helping her headache. She tried to tell herself that once the headache was gone and she could think clearly, that she would remember more.

A little more of the fog lifted from her and she became aware of a warm weight on her other hand. She turned her head and was surprised to see Oliver. His hand was under hers, while his head rested on top of her hand. He had pulled up an old cot next to the sofa and had fallen asleep, apparently her hand made a good pillow.

Her heart thumped a little harder feeling his hand under hers, holding it in his sleep. She willed herself not to read anything into this. Of course he would be worried about her if she had been drugged. It made sense that someone would have stayed with her. With Sara away, he probably figured it made the most sense for him to do it.

She couldn't stop the tears that tears that came now as she thought about him with Sara. He had never made her any promises, not really. Yeah, he had made the comment about not being with someone he really cared about after the Russia incident, but she had come to realize that she had read too much into that. She had refused to let herself cry when he took up with Sara, had refused to let his words replay in her head over and over like they wanted to. She couldn't come to the foundry every night and be part of the team she so desperately wanted to still be apart of if she let herself think of all of that. But the drugs were messing with her control and the tears slipped down her cheeks unbidden. She had to get control before she ended up waking him. She didn't want to have to explain why she was crying. Not to mention, her brain to mouth filter was iffy at best when she hadn't been drugged. She was afraid to think of the things she might say if she had to talk to him right now.

But as always, fate was not on her side. Oliver moved in his sleep, mumbling under his breath. Felicity held her breath, hoping he would stay asleep. He stayed asleep, but within moments it became apparent he was in the middle of a nightmare. His head moved restlessly on her hand, his hand grasping hers more tightly beneath it. He made sounds of distress before calling out her name as a plea.

She couldn't take it anymore and reached over with other hand, running it over his hair.

"Oliver," she called him softly, "Oliver, wake up. You're okay."

His head lifted from her hand and blue eyes met hers. Terror faded from his eyes to be replaced by relief and something else she couldn't quite name.

"Felicity…"


	6. Chapter 6

**One more chapter to go after this. Thanks everyone for the feedback and I hope you like this chapter. **

"Felicity."

Oliver said her name on a breath, as if afraid to say it too loudly. He was on his knees on the cot in an instant, leaning up and over her, one hand braced on the back of the sofa on the other side of her. The other hand came to rest gently against her uninjured cheek.

Felicity swallowed against the sudden lump that had formed in her throat at his protective position over her. His leaning down over her like this, his hand on her cheek, the fact that he was practically pinning her to the sofa, it was too intimate. It made her think of scenarios that she tried hard not to think of. _He's with Sara_, she told herself, willing her heart rate to return to normal. He was just reacting to his worry, that was all. She would ignore the look of tenderness she thought she saw in his face before she read to much into it.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, his voice was low and rough. His gaze swept over her face, noting the pale color and already dark bruise staining one cheek. He didn't feel the anger rising inside him that he would have expected on seeing the bruise. He couldn't feel anything other than his own relief and elation that she was finally awake.

She nodded her head but didn't say anything. She didn't trust herself not to say something that would embarrass her, especially when his hand moved to smooth her hair back from her face, then traced back down the side of her face to her neck and back up. She didn't think she was misreading the situation this time. But how...he was with Sara. She briefly wondered if he had been drugged too.

"Felicity we need to talk. I need to talk, you need to listen please." He waited until she shook her head in confirmation before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Tonight opened my eyes to a lot of things. Things that I have been hiding from. I thought I was going to lose you tonight. If we had been a few moments later..."

Felicity watched as his voice trailed off. For the first time since she had woken, he broke eye contact with her, staring over her head as he remembered his thoughts and feelings from earlier. When he looked back at her, his normally stoic face was filled with emotion.

"What did happen to me? I can't remember anything past seeing you at the club. I have vague memories, but I'm not sure they're real." She had to ask, hating to interrupt whatever he was trying to tell her.

"The guy drugged you." He told her, sounding a little angry. "He had drugged the rose, when you smelled it, the drug was inhaled. He got you outside in the alley and had hit you before I could get to you. A minute later, you would have been gone. Roy pulled me off the guy. He was arrested and he confessed. I never even thought about the rose."

Felicity could already see where this was going, even with her headache and she hurried to head it off. She reached up and covered the hand that rested against her cheek with her own. "Oliver, this was not your fault. None of us thought about an inhaled drug. You still did what you were supposed to and caught the guy. He's not going to hurt anymore girls now."

Oliver was continually amazed by her. She was injured and drugged and yet still trying to comfort him. For once, he didn't think about his actions, or consequences, or what she was going to think, he just did what he wanted to do. He took her hand, brought it to his lips and pressed a light kiss against her open palm. He watched her eyes widen in surprise and couldn't help the slight grin that ticked up the corners of his mouth.

"I told you once, that because of the life I lead," he paused taking a breath, he wasn't used to baring his feelings, "that it was easier to not be with someone I could really care about." Felicity nodded, but remained quiet. "I know I hurt you when I got together with Sara. I do care about her. I've said as much. But what I didn't say is that the way I care about Sara, wasn't what I was talking about. I love Sara as a friend. We have similar histories, went through similar hells. It's easy because we are so much the same. Sometimes it's easier to live in the past.."

Oliver trailed off again. She was looking up at him, but he couldn't read her expression. He suspected she had learned a little from him and Digg and was trying to keep her expression neutral. But she wasn't quite as good at it as he was. He could still tell that what he was saying was effecting her.

"I care about you, Felicity. Really care. I fought against it because of my life as the Arrow. If anyone were to find out who I am and what you mean to me, you would become a target." Felicity opened her mouth to object, but he silenced her with a finger across her lips. "You were right the other day when you said that being a part of this team put everyone in danger. I know too, that sometimes you do have to leave this basement. We wouldn't have caught that guy tonight without you. As much as I would like to keep you safe down here," he paused to smile at her as if asking if she would reconsider that. He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him when she shook her head no, "I know you won't do it. You're going to be in danger occassionally whether I admit how I feel about you or not."

"Oliver stop. Stop before you say anything else." Felicity told him, becoming agitated. She had wanted to hear these things from him for as long as she could remember. But he was with Sara now. It was unfair for him to make these announcements when he was with someone else. "You're with Sara. Sara! You don't get to say these things to me and then go back to her. What the hell am I supposed to do with this information, Oliver? Am I supposed to be happy that you want to be with me, but you don't think you can? Is it supposed to hurt less when I see you with Sara, now that I know you want to be with me? I don't understand why you're telling me this now."

She couldn't take this anymore. The tears rushed down her cheeks and she was helpless to stop them. She felt like she was losing everything. She had tried so hard to keep her feelings for Oliver from interfering with their friendship and their work. But after this, there was no way she could be around him. She wouldn't be able to see him with Sara, or anyone else, with this knowledge in her head and in her heart. It would break her.

"Sshhh. Ssshhh." Oliver hushed her gently, as he wiped the tears from her face. "I'm not staying with Sara. I'm trying to say that I want you. I want us to be together. I am done hiding from this, running from things that may or may not happen. I want to be with you." She looked up at him, her eyes still bright with tears, but he saw a glimmer of hope and saw that she was listening to him, so he continued quickly. "Felicity, you mean so much to me. I wanted to protect you, from anyone that would come after you because of me, but also from me." He saw the look of confusion cross her face. "I'm so much darker than you are. You are light and goodness. I'm, I'm dark and ...broken. But you make me feel whole, or like I could be someday. You see a goodness in me that I wasn't sure I had anymore. I was worried that someday I would do something, fail you some way, and I would destroy that. I don't think I could stand that."

He glanced down at the floor, and Felicity reached up and touched his face, bringing his gaze back up to hers.

"Oliver you are a good person. You're a hero to so many people. I know you've had to do bad things, you've had to fight and occassionally kill. But please, don't ever question your worth. Look at all the good you've done for this city!" She stopped suddenly, a little caught off guard by her own outburst. But she hated to see this side of Oliver. It was as if he was doing penance for something he thought he could never make up for.

"When Sara gets back, I'll end it with her." Felicity started to object again, not wanting to be the reason for the other girls unhappiness, even though she truly wanted to be with Oliver. Sara had been through so much and she really did like her.

"Felicity, she already knows. She has made comments to me about you. She sees the way I look at you. Believe me, she knows this thing between her and I isn't real or healthy either. I think she knew all along, but the night of the Clock King settled it. When I told you that you would always be my girl. I had to walk away from you after that. I wanted to pull you against me, to kiss you. I almost did. Instead I walked away. Sara saw it all. She's pretty perceptive. She made a comment later about how after everything we had been through, we both have trouble being happy and taking what would make us happy."

"You both deserve to be happy Oliver." She took a deep breath, willing her voice not shake as she asked her question, "So, what would make you happy?"

Oliver looked down at her, a smile touching his lips as he considered her for a moment before answering. The hope shining in her face was beautiful, she was beautiful. And he was so lucky. He had another chance and he wasn't going to waste it.

"You."


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you all so much for reading my fanfic. And thank you all for the positive feedback. I am gonna stay positive that the writers will someday give this couple the chance they deserve. They have so much chemistry and potential.

The first thing Felicity became aware of when she woke this time was the warm body lying heavily against her back. Oliver. She couldn't help the smile that came to her face as she remembered his answer.

_You._ One word had never sounded so good to her before. She was a little embarrassed now to remember her reaction to that one word. She had launched herself up from the sofa and into his arms. He had caught her against his chest, his arms banding around her. She had wrapped her arms around him just as tightly. She had felt him pressing kisses against her hair. She had pulled back, looking up into his face. His smile as he looked down at her was unlike any she had ever seen from him before and she had smiled in return. She had thought that he would kiss her then. Unfortunately he moved his head and the light from overhead shone directly in her eyes, making her headache spike and she had winced in response.

"You need to lay back down." He had told her, "The drugs aren't out of your system just yet."

She had wanted to argue with him, but she knew he was right. However, after everything he had just said to her, she wasn't ready to let him go just yet.

"Will you stay with me?" she had asked, biting her lip against her nerves.

In response, he had pulled her over onto the cot with him, settling her down against him, before pulling the blanket over them both. She wouldn't have thought it would have been possible to fall asleep while in Oliver's arms, but within minutes the feeling of warmth and security had her eyelids drooping.

Now she was awake, hours later according to her watch. Her headache was gone and she lay as still as she could. She wanted to enjoy this for just a little longer. She could feel him pressed against her back. One of his legs had insinuated itself between hers, pinning her bottom leg to the cot. His arm was wrapped around her waist, keeping her firmly against him. His breath moved across her neck with every exhalation, making her want to shiver. This was heaven.

"I know you're awake." His voice was a low whisper next to her ear. He felt her shiver and grinned. He had known the minute she had woken, had felt when her body went from sleepy relaxation to alertness next to his. He had been awake for a while, thinking about the woman in his arms. Wondering what he had ever done to deserve the trust that she placed in him. He moved away from her a little, tugging on her shoulder to move her onto her back. Then as he had the night before, he loomed over her, studying her face.

"How are you feeling?" He spoke softly in case her head still hurt.

"Good. Great. I mean, my headache is gone. I don't feel like my brain's in a cloud anymore at least." She made herself stop talking. She couldn't help feeling a little shy. What if he felt differently about the things he had said now in the light of the day?

"Good." Something about the way he said it, while his gaze dropped to her mouth, made her breath catch.

"Good?" she repeated the word back to him, unable to think of anything else to say, not while he was still staring at her lips.

"Yeah, good." His gaze swept up to meet hers. "I didn't want to our first kiss to be while you were still under the effects of that drug."

His head lowered to hers and she only had time to let out a soft, "oh" before his lips brushed against hers.

He pulled back and looked down at her. Her eyes drifted open slowly.

"You know, every time you start to ramble on about something, I always thought how much I wanted to kiss you quiet." He told her, smoothing her hair back. He couldn't seem to stop touching her now that he had started.

"I don't think you realize you've just given me incentive to babble even more." She tried to look woeful, but ruined it by smiling.

"Well, we'll just have to work on that." It was his only reply before he lowered his head to capture her lips again. All he knew was that he needed to kiss her again like he needed his next breath. There was no light brush of his lips this time. He explored her mouth the way he had wanted to for a long time now, enjoying the throaty little moans she made and releasing a groan of his own when she nipped at his bottom lip. Her arms came up to twine around his neck, pulling him closer. He complied and lowered his body down to hers, careful to support most of his weight on his elbows. The world spun away for both of them, only aware of each other and heat of their kiss.

Diggle paused at the bottom of the steps and surveyed the scene in front of him. Oliver was laying half on top of Felicity, her arms around his neck and they were kissing like they were long lost lovers. Which in a way they were. They had been lost to each other for so long. Diggle turned and quietly made his way back up the stairs, texting Roy to keep away from the foundry for a while. It had taken Oliver too long to see what was right before him and act on it; Digg didn't want anything to interrupt them now.


End file.
